Preservation of Farm Machinery

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 377, 15 June 1889, Page 8

Preservation of Farm Machinery

There is no depaUmentof tlie fa? m upon which more (, re Te^ne-s.T e^ne-s. in^'iTei enee, and ienoiance e:xis'c? !Vr in iimL oC f."i.n machinery, vor i^ in.cone in w'iic i mo c money is needles ]y wasted, for whe ewe find one farmer who intelligently u~es the machineiy o£ the firm, yon wi find twenty who neglect them. XL is but too genei ally t!ip practice off nneiS lo hold their implements ns tbinsf ih:> 1 require no attention at theii hands, and thc-e are farms uppn which there is no provision for storing such under cover ; wirlst < ii ethers 3*ou will find a camp open shed, into which they are put during" winter, to be brought out, when wanted for use, covered with rust, and necessitating a visit to the implement mnkrroi 'lie village blacksmith befoie they can be pot to work. F<i inters such as these will always be found de~ plaiming against t'ue cost and uselessness of f aim machinery. And well they 110.13* ; but they appear to be utterly oblivious of the fact that it is owning to their own neglect that the greater portion of the expense is incurred. Cleanliness to the machipe is the Piujvalent of ablution to man : t\rv aheltcequivalent to cloth in cr and a dwelling ; oil equivalent to food arcl drink. Without these the fiaine of m;in decays ; without these the implements decays. As a man cannot do without these essentials for a lengthened time, and then go to a doctor to be made whole, so a machine, left without them vlinugli the winter, cannot be restored to ilsnoimal state by the implement maker or the blacksmith. The imp'ements may be rleaned and patched up but where 1 list has laid upon it its corrosive grip, it is immediately injured, and its ■Working life is shortened. Those are facts tbat cannot be controverted, and on every farm, be it laige or small, where implem ents are in «*e, it will pn y, and pay well, to * reil t them in a rational and, comninn Ren se manner. Farmers who thus subject the;r maoliinery to bad treatment would receive a practical lesson of much value by visiting a -inrjre engineering establishment, and noting the scrupnloiiß cleanlincs ond brightness of the machinery in use — not a speok of dirt that can be removed, each joint oiled and working smoothly and noiselessly. Perhaps it may be said that implemeVt^ that are worked out of door 3 cannot be kept like those in a foundry. Possibly not ; but much can he done that is now but. too freqiu-ntly left undone. At the end of a day's wok, ha 7f-ni-hour is profitably spent in wipini down a wet machine, and giving it a rub over with oil, taking caie to always keep ilie fiictionai paits in e?.sy working 01 dor by means of oil. At the end of the se.^nn extra eire should be used in Ihornii'.rh'y cleaniner machinery that has to lay bv duriner the v.-intei, and in oi'ing and paint ing, if necessary, to waid off jnst. Then they should be housed in a dry building, on J a wooden floor, if practicable ; but "bnuVl j cortiiinlv never be allowed to stand all through the winter mnnUiH on a damp **arth floor. These precautions will pay for thpmselves many times over, f»nd t'so implements, when required for next year's Ijse, can be made available with very little trouble. Another and valuable point §honld not be overlooked. If, after Ihe wear and tesirof cntUno", amnr-bine !s«een to be in need of repair, let it be done at once. Do not leave the repair over nnlil next spring, for there is the probability of its being foiirotten until it is absolutely wanted. Let it be done in the autumn, when there is time to pee that it is done properly. If left to the busy time in the Kprinir. theie is the almost ceitninty of (he woik beirg fcamned, and valuable t : :ue •jfts^iq ccjnscquence of a breakdown.